Continuing the association with four wheels and making the step up to international level is Paul’s 17-year-old son, Frank Bird, who will be contesting the ultra-competitive 2017 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship for the Fortec Team.

Introduced last year as a joint initiative between Ford and the MSA, 2015 provided the most exciting development in British junior single-seater motor racing for almost 50 years with the arrival of the FIA F4 concept in the UK.

Powered by Ford’s 1.6-litre EcoBoost engines, as proven in Formula Ford, and tuned to deliver the FIA’s maximum permitted 160 PS, already Frank has been testing both in the UK and in Spain as he bids to make an impression following two season’s in the Ginetta Junior Championship. The season starts at Brands Hatch on April 3rd 2016.

BIOGRAPHY

Name:

Age:

Birthplace:

Residence:

Frank Bird

20/8/99

Penrith, Cumbria

Nassington

When all you’ve known in race paddocks around the world since you were born, your father being a very successful competitor on both two wheels and four wheels and your mother’s family owning a British Superbike Championship-winning team as well as racing in the World Superbike Championship, it was inevitable that Frank Bird would end up competing himself. Bypassing the two-wheeled world, Frank started competing at 14 years of age in the Ginetta Junior Championship whereby over the past three seasons, he has gained the necessary experience to progress to European Championship single-seaters in his bid to hopefully end up in Formula One.

Frank also excels at other sports including soccer and cricket and is always supported by his twin sister Jordan at events where he is competing.

In a career spanning just 15 years, Paul Bird is one of the UK’s leading rally drivers and has had a huge amount of success. National Champion in 2005 and runner-up in the various British and National championships on a number of other occasions since, his victories include the prestigious SOL Rally Barbados, the Manx National and International, the North West Stages Rally, the Malcolm Wilson Rally as well as success in the World Rally Championship.

Ranked second in the UK to Colin McRae at one point, Paul plans a comeback this season with a selection of events on both gravel and asphalt in his Ford Focus WRC prepared by Kelso-based Dom Buckley Motorsport.